“Prostate Cancer Dilemmas”
To be sure, prostate cancer is a serious disease and is the cause of many male deaths. Yet, physicians are faced with the dilemma of over-diagnosis and over-treatment. Recently, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against the use of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test to screen for prostate cancer, concluding that there was “moderate or high certainty” that it was not of benefit. This renewed a firestorm of controversy and more patient confusion. Many factors must be considered and some of them are as follows. Many patients suffer adverse consequences of routine prostate surgery such as nerve damage and incontinence. Analysis data provides strong evidence that treatment complications are strongly influenced by the individual surgeons experience, even though many patients are treated by surgeons with very low case volumes.
